Former Illini women's basketball players sue coaches, school

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A group of female athletes claims they faced harassment, emotional abuse and racism for years at the University of Illinois.

Seven former Illini players have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the University of Illinois and their former coaches. They make explosive allegations that the coaches routinely abused them emotionally and discriminated against the African American players.

On the court, they finished in the bottom half of the Big 10 last season, but that's not why five players have decided to leave the University of Illinois women's basketball program. According to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, it's because say they were subjected to psychological abuse and racial discrimination.

"It was surreal what was going on at the University of Illinois, it was absolutely surreal. It was right out of the 1950s or the 1960s," said Thomas Grusecki, a player's father.

The lawsuit names head coach Matt Bollant, assistant coach Mike Divilbiss and other university officials and alleges the coaches instituted segregated practices by singling out the black players, calling them "crabs", referring to the African American players practices as "the dog pound", and labeled black players as "West Side ghetto".

Attorney Terry Ekl says the behavior was reminiscent of the pre-Civil Rights era.

"This is something that maybe you could understand in the 50s," Ekl said. "To have this type of thing going on today is really hard to fathom."

The University of Illinois had already begun an investigation of the allegations, and in a statement said: "As we await the results of the review, Athletic Director Mike Thomas has already added staff to closely monitor team activities and has implemented additional ways for student-athletes to report any concerns they have."

The federal suit asks for $10 million in punitive damages and alleges the experience has damaged the girls in many ways.

All seven women in the suit were recruited by previous coach Jolette Law, an African American. They say they believe the new coach was trying to run them out of the program so he could bring in white players.

All seven have left the university; five transferred to other schools and two graduated.